A FRIEND of hero captain Pete Barnes was expecting a visit from the pilot this weekend.

Martin Burgin, who runs Eagle Helicopters at Newcastle City Heliport, says Capt Barnes was due to stop off at his heliport on Saturday for one of his regular flying visits.

But this was not meant to be after the tragic events of Wednesday morning which saw the 50-year-old dad-of-two killed when the helicopter he was piloting clipped a crane in Vauxhall, London, before spinning out of control and crashing on to the streets below in a ball of flames.

As the debris hit the ground, it claimed the life of pedestrian Matthew Wood, 39, from Sutton, south London, and injured 12 other people.

Eyewitnesses told how the aircraft’s rotor blades sliced through the crane “as if it was a piece of paper”.

Mr Burgin, who knew Capt Barnes for more than 25 years, said he had become pals with the popular “family man” as he would often use his Newcastle city centre heliport to fly in and out of.

He said: “I knew Pete for a long time. I met him when he was a young man and I was very impressed not only in his work but he was an incredible person in the fact that he also had that uncanny ability to look 10 years younger and I was most annoyed about that.

“He worked predominantly as a freelance pilot so he would work for anyone and that’s how he became so well-known throughout the UK. He used to drop into my heliport in Newcastle and he was actually due to come here this Saturday.

“He would often stop by whether it just be to refuel so we were very familiar with him.”

Capt Barnes spent several years living in Newcastle during which time he worked at as Metro Radio’s first ever “eye in the sky” traffic and travel presenter. He also took part in hundreds of life-saving missions as an Great North Air Ambulance Service pilot, which he undertook for eight years up until four years ago.

Described by colleagues as a highly-experienced and safety conscious flyer, Capt Barnes put his expertise to good use a stunt movie pilot and was involved in such films as Die Another Day, Saving Private Ryan and Tomb Raider II. He was also employed by the London Olympics organisers in a number of roles last summer.

Mr Burgin, who has been a pilot for decades, says that a number of restrictions are in place when flying through built-up areas such as central London and he hopes that some changes are made in light of this week’s tragedy.

He said: “I fly into the city of London Battersea frequently and know the route in and out like the back of my hand.

“There are laws in this country about how structures over a certain height must be lit, this isn’t just at night it’s 24 hours-a-day.

“Also when things are restricted by weather it can be quite challenging so you have to make an early decision, apparently like Pete did, the weather wasn’t suitable to get to Elstree and he was, from what I believe, heading south and I think he was going to divert into Battersea which would take him near Vauxhall.

“I’m not going to speculate but you would expect buildings like the one that was hit to have something akin to a strobe light as protection not only for the building but for everyone else also.”

Meanwhile, Capt Barnes’ long-term partner and brother have paid tribute to the “remarkable” man and said it would have been his “instinct” to do whatever he could to minimise casualties.

Partner Rebecca Dixon had two children with Capt Barnes, 12-year-old Alexandra and eight-year-old Freddie, and the family lived in a small village near Reading.

The 38-year-old is reported to have said: “Obviously he would have been frantic and the lives of others would have been at the forefront of his mind.

“It sums up the man. I find it very comforting and so do the children.”

His brother Chris Barnes, 55, from Nottingham, said: “It’s a matter of instinct, it’s what pilots do. He had 25 years and 10,500 hours experience. He was very good at what he did.

“Our condolences go out to the family of the other man who was killed, that’s the last thing that my brother would have wanted to happen.”

Mystery continues to surround how Capt Barnes’ helicopter came into difficulties with questions arising over the lighting of high-rise tower blocks.

Reports were also circulating that he appeared to be struggling to keep the aircraft on course as he tried to make an emergency landing in fog.

It was said that he may have lost contact with air traffic controllers at Battersea where he was due to make the landing but the Civil Aviation Authority have said that he wouldn’t have been in contact with controllers there, only at Heathrow Air Traffic Control.

The independent Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) is now investigating the accident to establish the facts and a report will be published in coming months.

An AAIB spokeswomen said: “In the months to come a report will be released on the incident.”